Holy fakeness: Did you mean to be marketing ageism?
Authenticity and ageism.
A marketing company offered to help me with ‘the authenticity trend” that’s sweeping our country. Hmm, twenty-five years ago I ran my own authentic marketing firm, helping clients tell their retail product stories. Surely, as a second career, 60 year old consultant, I could use some tips on the latest authenticity hacks as I develop Brand Lisa 2.0. So I clicked through to the portal of opportunity to find this life changing phenom, browsing their midlife client success stories of authentic product selling.
Three clicks into the rabbit hole, I laughed at the irony of this company soliciting me for business. My work is centered on wellbeing and age-friendly advocacy, not altered reality product sales. Did they not do a little marketing research on their own database?
My mind wandered back to my former marketing chair, shaking my head at the ugly ageism in every "success" story. The pages were littered with unrealistic images, fake settings, and ageist buzzwords. One client was so airbrushed, she had no discernible facial features left. Why do marketers continue to normalize this unhealthy social issue? In case you’re not familiar with the term ageism, it’s stereotyping, prejudice, and discrimination on the basis of age. Our minds, bodies, careers, and quality of life are affected by this widely accepted practice. Selling a reality-altered, anti-aging image of ourselves is NOT authentic marketing.
Drawing from my former and current experiences, here are four tips to help fight ageism in marketing:
1. Stop airbrushing everybody. We’re already siliconed, microbladed, bleached, lashed, and waxed. We don’t need any more fake authenticity to sell our goods. There are marketers who get it. Find them, learn from them.
2. Stop pretending. A false narrative is not relatable or healthy. It’s okay to have all the feels of aging, including wisdom, perspective, fears, and faith. The sooner marketers understand this, the sooner we’ll begin deescalating ageism.
3. Start thinking of ageism along the lines of racism and sexism. If we don’t tolerate these negative practices, products, and behaviors, we shouldn’t be supporting ageism. Kindly speak up when you see it. It may not be intentional, so gentle conversations are more effective than rants.
4. Be an age-friendly advocate. When we personally present a positive, inclusive message on aging, no matter our life stage, we counter-balance ageist messages. Intergenerational relationships foster growth.
As I hit the unsubscribe button at the bottom of the “authentic” newsletter, I snarled with frustration at the dissonance we’ve accepted. By 2035, there will be more older adults in America than kids. In other words, we’ll be the largest population segment, so I’m unsure why we still want to look like a teenager when none of us wants to trade our cumulative life experiences for that of a 15 year old. When we gain confidence, we’ll be able to fend off ageist messages, with the hope that they’ll dissipate like a bad dream.
Oh, and my frown was quickly replaced with a grin when I received the following unsubscribe message. I’m proud to be a Cold Prospect.
